Excuse my rant - In Michigan where I live its been far below zero lately, highs have been around 15F but often when im leaving in the morning its around 0F.

I feel like my car has been making an exceptional amount of odd noises varying from countless new rattles to a strange low brake squeal (heard this the other day leaving in -10F weather). Can anyone comment about similar problems or if this has to do with the extreme cold? I just hope its not something more serious.

Also i'm assuming rattles that arise in the winter can very well go away again with warmer temps? Some of them are driving me crazy!

Sorry I needed to vent a little bit!

Last edited by Dem3ern; 01-23-2013 at 09:07 PM.
Reason: Grammar - I suck at typing.

Normal IMO.. My E46 did it, my E92 does.. Do you get a squeak-rattle hybrid noise from inside the IP cluster area...? That's the most annoying one in the E92, others I can ignore. Today I heard a new one from the HVAC vent area.. A sort of low amplitude, high frequency hum from the vents..

Normal IMO.. My E46 did it, my E92 does.. Do you get a squeak-rattle hybrid noise from inside the IP cluster area...? That's the most annoying one in the E92, others I can ignore. Today I heard a new one from the HVAC vent area.. A sort of low amplitude, high frequency hum from the vents..

SE MI here as well...

I'm getting some light rattles from there, worst one is my passenger side c-pillar... Fitment us kinda off so hoping dealer can fix fitment and therefore fix the rattle.

However I'm glad im not the only one! As for SE MI weather I'd be okay with like 30F... 5 is a little cold.

Southern Ontario here, it was about -15C (approx 2F) without windchill today. First winter with my car. Creaks, groans, and weird sound from the HVAC aside, I did get a warning on my idrive this morning saying the battery had discharged while the car was stopped. The first crank of the day was a slow one, and I attribute it to parking outdoors overnight. Would the same reason be true for the battery warning? 2009 335 with about 44,000km (27,000 miles). After going for a bit of a drive and the engine having warmed up, I didn't get the message again.

Also if a battery tender is needed, is there a specific make or specific setting/feature that I should be looking out for?

Excuse my rant - In Michigan where I live its been far below zero lately, highs have been around 15F but often when im leaving in the morning its around 0F.

I feel like my car has been making an exceptional amount of odd noises varying from countless new rattles to a strange low brake squeal (heard this the other day leaving in -10F weather). Can anyone comment about similar problems or if this has to do with the extreme cold? I just hope its not something more serious.

Also i'm assuming rattles that arise in the winter can very well go away again with warmer temps? Some of them are driving me crazy!

I will chime in here, creaking noises, especially from the sunroof usually, rough idle on cold start sometimes (was -15c here today), A/C sometimes makes weird noises, sometimes sounds like ground loop/am radio noise coming out of the speakers, all these weird sounds seem to go away once the car is warmed up though. Car was super cold today, and driving off it kinda went though a power surge, where like u don't press the accelerator any harder but the engines acts like u pressed the gas.

hmm this sounds much more normal... there was a post from a bunch of Californians embracing the colder weather, claiming their N54s/N55s are breathing easier and enjoying the drop in temperature..

I always thought cars ran best in warm weather, not too hot like 95+, but from say 65-85 degrees..? Really did not think they enjoyed the cold. It's obvious here though that sub freezing temperatures are no good for everybody..

Normal IMO.. My E46 did it, my E92 does.. Do you get a squeak-rattle hybrid noise from inside the IP cluster area...? That's the most annoying one in the E92, others I can ignore. Today I heard a new one from the HVAC vent area.. A sort of low amplitude, high frequency hum from the vents..

SE MI here as well...

HVAC fan.....they squeek on the cold which leads to squeek in the warm which leads to replacement before 50,000 miles....common problem. Suspension creaks in the cold too. I don't like that one.

I am in Madison, WI, and it has been around zero a few times in the past week. My car has made a few funny noises during start up, and one time it said "Increased Battery Drain". But nothing really came of it or any other noises.

However, my Weisslicht LED turn signals frequently throw an error on both sides, but when I bump the signal, it'll blink really fast 4-5 times and then go to the regular cadence and reset the error. Oh well.

My wife's 328 ('07 E90 65k miles, spent all of it's life in Texas until Nov 2012) has some squeaking while turning the steering wheel and similar groans during start up.

Glad to hear i'm not the only one. I washed my car today in a local self-wash, kinda funny how I could watch the water freezing as I was driving home on the mirror! And all the ice that has built up gives some more interesting cracking noises as its breaking.

Question on the HVAC fan, is that something covered under Platinum Extended warranty? I dont think mine has been replaced but id HATE to live with a squeaking fan...

Glad to hear i'm not the only one. I washed my car today in a local self-wash, kinda funny how I could watch the water freezing as I was driving home on the mirror! And all the ice that has built up gives some more interesting cracking noises as its breaking.

Question on the HVAC fan, is that something covered under Platinum Extended warranty? I dont think mine has been replaced but id HATE to live with a squeaking fan...

I guess you know this but watch out if you're bathing your car in subzero temps.. You could have water get into door locks and freeze up. No fun.. Happened on my old VW years ago and no fun. The ice could also do damage if it gets inside moving parts when you try to actuate them (like mirrors)...

It's funny how I was washing the car at a coin wash same time a week ago, with temps in the mid-40s (wasn't even wearing a jacket, it was that warm!!!). 12 hours later the mercury dropped like a rock and it's been freezing cold ever since..

I guess you know this but watch out if you're bathing your car in subzero temps.. You could have water get into door locks and freeze up. No fun.. Happened on my old VW years ago and no fun. The ice could also do damage if it gets inside moving parts when you try to actuate them (like mirrors)...

It's funny how I was washing the car at a coin wash same time a week ago, with temps in the mid-40s (wasn't even wearing a jacket, it was that warm!!!). 12 hours later the mercury dropped like a rock and it's been freezing cold ever since..

Yea I was thinking about that, I was trying to decide between a crap ton of salt on the paint or carefully trying to spray it down... I really don't like washing it when its THAT cold but the roads here were literally white from salt so you can imagine what my car looked like.

Funny how you mention going from mid 40's to freezing because we had about 0F last Tuesday and this upcoming Tuesday its supposed to be 55F..... Oh how I love Michigan.